For more than a decade, One Degree has been building technology to help people find and access life-changing services. Along the way, one challenge has remained stubbornly constant: systems don’t talk to each other. As a result, the burden of coordination falls on the people least equipped to carry it—help seekers and frontline staff—who are forced to re-enter the same information, navigate duplicative workflows, and bridge gaps between disconnected tools.
This is why interoperability matters. Not as an abstract technical ideal, but as a practical, human one.
Today, far too much time in social care is spent manually transferring information from one system to another—copying assessments, re-creating referrals, or following up by phone or email to confirm whether help was received. Every handoff introduces friction. Every delay risks someone falling through the cracks. True interoperability has the power to change that by enabling real-time, standards-based data exchange that meets people where they already are.
That belief sits at the heart of our participation in California’s Data Exchange Framework (DxF). Through the DxF Technical Assistance Grant, One Degree has been able to make focused, intentional investments in the infrastructure required to support real-time sharing of social drivers of health (SDOH) assessment and referral data. This kind of funding is critical: it recognizes that interoperability is not “extra,” but foundational public infrastructure that requires time, expertise, and coordination to get right .
As part of our December 2025 progress update, we shared our ongoing investments in API based DxF-aligned data exchange and reaffirmed our commitment to implementing nationally recognized standards, including the Gravity SDOH implementation guide. Just as importantly, we finalized a partnership we are genuinely excited about: a collaboration with Elimu Informatics – Advisory Services.
Elimu is a rare kind of partner. Their team includes key contributors to the Gravity SDOH standards and deep, real-world experience running production-grade FHIR infrastructure. They understand not only how interoperability should work on paper, but how it actually functions in live systems with real providers, real workflows, and real constraints. Through this partnership, Elimu is supporting architecture design, implementation, and workflow development as we move toward production and training.
Together with our partners—including 211 Ventura—we are aligning on the specific data fields and workflows needed to enable meaningful, real-time exchange. The goal is not technology for technology’s sake, but practical interoperability that frees up time for frontline workers and reduces the administrative burden placed on people seeking help.
We see this work as part of a larger shift. Interoperability is how we move from fragmented, siloed systems to coordinated systems of care. The DxF grant made it possible to invest in this foundation, and our collaboration with Elimu gives us confidence that we’re building it the right way—grounded in standards, informed by practice, and focused on impact.
We’re excited about what comes next, and grateful to be building toward a future where sharing information is the easy part—so people can focus on what matters most: showing up for one another.